Threads of Fate
by Cressid
Summary: Ares/Xena A mortal Ares looks for redemption. Is he going to find his way?


# Disclaimer: Definitely, nobody, or no one belongs to me, except for my original characters based on the FANTASTIC SHIPPER CLUB.

WAP forever. This story is purely for fun. No infringements of copyrights intended. And I have no money anyway I am just a poor college student. ;)

# If you want this story consult with me first, please :D !!!! Ok, to the serious stuff now:

**SEX:** Um…kissing only…If you think that **that** is bad then you are freak j/k ;p

**SUBTEXT**: None whatsoever. I believe that Xena and Gabrielle are the bestest friends in the world and nothing more. This is an Ares/Xena story so if you 

don't like it you can complain but it won't work much. J

**VIOLENCE**: This is Xena dude, if you don't have violence then what is it? Gabrielle's alternate life in Potalotadia (no offense intended)

**FEEDBACK**: Like the story?? Want to complain? Want to tell me I suck?? e-mail to [glediana@hotmail.com][1] please!!!

This disclaimer is a little jerky, but I am in jerky mood right now J

# 

# Chapter One: Cope

** **

The sea breeze was gently waving her hair. She was looking pensively at the waves that were touching the shore back and forth, back and forth unstoppably reuniting with the moistened sand and than drawing back to unknown depths. A reminiscing look on her face showed a certain melancholy about her. Strangely, she wasn't paying attention to the beauty in front of her eyes. She wasn't looking at the thousand colors playing together while the sun was melting in the sea surrendering to the infinite mass of blue that seemed on fire. 

"When did it happen?" asked her with a low whisper. 

"While he was going the way to Athens, a month ago. He wanted to see if his sister's temple was still there. At least, he had the death of a warrior. Isn't that what all Ares wanted?" said Hercules putting a hand on Xena's shoulder.

"Not all he wanted Hercules!! Not all." Xena turned to face him. Hercules smiled. 

"I know that this is a little hard for you Xena, but at least his suffering came to an end. You know he could never have never made it as a mortal." Hercules toyed with her hair.

He knew that Ares' death would have been painful to Xena. There was a certain bond between the two. A bond of the past that tied them together in an unexplainable care for each other. He knew that Ares cared for Xena deeply. Xena had been for him the only barrier to take over the known world and to be 100% evil. He sacrificed his godhood for her, even if in an indirect way. Surely, Xena would feel a little sad for knowing about his death. Ares after all, had been a major character in her life. He shaped her and gave her skills, but on the other side he had a negative effect on Xena. He confused her, manipulate and draw her to him with a power that only he seemed to have. "I am getting melancholic too" thought Hercules. "Is it because of her, or just because his death makes me a little sad too? It always happens when you loose a worthy enemy and when this enemy is my half-brother" Hercules smiled inwardly. He never thought he would ever think that about Ares, but when someone you think will live forever leaves, it hurts and leaves you empty. This is true even for an enemy. 

"You will feel better Xena." Said Hercules reassuring her. "Give it a little time." Xena started walking towards the camp where Gabrielle was happily telling Iolaus and Virgil about their last adventure.

"I know Hercules. I deal with pain all the time. This is not something new."

They had been traveling now for four months in different locations, so they didn't know what was happening to anyone they knew. Now that they had been coming through known places news about their friends and families was starting to flow. Meg had died three months ago. Apparently it was a heart attack over Joxer's grave mourning him. Meg had been a good friend. She had her defects, but what counts is that she had a good heart and had loved Joxer sincerely. Autolycus was gone too. Dead doing what he did best: stealing. Even in his old age. It was an apple that caused the death of the king of thieves. He was stealing lunch when the guards saw him and started hunting him down through the marketplace of Corinth. Then a chariot was on his way and his agility failed him. And the last was Ares. He had sold his farm to a merchant and with his little money had undertook a journey to the last standing temple of Aphrodite. When he had finally arrived there, he had seen soldiers trying to ransack it. So he did what he was always supposed to do: protect the gods and their possessions till the end. And it was the end. He had killed most of them, but knowing that he was in disadvantage had started running towards the sea. The soldiers had followed him till the rock and fought with him till he fell fighting. The height of the rock from the sea was at least 250 feet. No chance that he could have survived. That was the sad story of the sad god of war in a sad world. Nothing new, but it wasn't usual either. Everything he held dear was destroyed by what he held dearest: Xena.

Hercules had wanted to tell Xena first. He thought it natural for her to know about the death of these important people in her life because she was supposed to be the strongest. She was the one who always kept it cool and had a solution even in the deepest desperation. What Hercules didn't know was that Xena was getting tired. She was more and more standing by herself. She was feeling distracted and sometimes found it hard to even concentrate in a task. The truth was that she was starting to put in doubt her own life. Xena knew that it was her destiny to be what she was. She knew that. But sometimes she felt that her destiny was her doom. True, she was helping people. True, she was changing lives, fighting wars, making peace, solving problems and definitely changing the world. But how about her? Has she reached that redemption that she was looking for in the beginning? If she did, then when would she live a normal life? If she did not, then when was she going to be redeemed?Gabrielle had noticed Xena's distraction, but she couldn't get her to talk. Even if she entered the argument in the theme, something would happen, or Xena would change the argument. 

Gabrielle had reached a new spiritual growth. Now she could make her own decisions and could criticize Xena's. She was finding more and more relief in the storytelling business and poetry was a new interest of hers. Although she had these peace theories she realized day by day that violence could be a way to reach peace. That is why she was still there, with Xena. She was everything to her: family, friend, and teacher. She was destined to be the bard who told the story of Xena Warrior Princess and that unfolded the layers of mystery in her past, present and future. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with Xena though? She was distracted lately and seemed tired. Xena had always been a little mysterious and that was really intriguing for Gabrielle. She had to find ways to make Xena reveal something about herself. But that was part of their relationship. She looked at her. There she was talking to Hercules. Her armor was always in the right place. The dear chakram was hanging from one side and the always- trusty sword from the other. She never lost her composure and there was greatness emanating from her.

"What is Hercules going to tell Xena?" asked Gabrielle interrupting her story.

Iolaus and Virgil made an amused face. "She will tell you Gabrielle." Said Iolaus glancing at Hercules. "Xena will tell you!"

***

And Xena did. The news of Meg's death caught Virgil unexpectedly. He would have never imagined that in all these times he was traveling with Xena, Meg would die. 

He started crying, or better say: sobbing loudly. Gabrielle comforted Virgil. She knew what it meant to lose a mother. The emptiness that the person that held you inside for nine months and took care of you most of your life was unbearable. She fought into restraining her own tears. She had to show a little strength to him. She had to do that. But she couldn't. There was the loss of Autolycus she had to cope with. He was a dear friend, but she couldn't just picture him dead. Autolycus, the king of thieves was dead. And with him all those stories about incredible treasures disappear into nothing would disappear into nothing. And then Ares… Tears rolled from her eyes. She fixed her gaze on Xena while holding a sobbing Virgil on her arms. She was quiet. Sitting there on the corner gazing pensively at the fire. 

Night had come so soon. Or, at least it seemed to her. Hercules and Iolaus were sitting quietly near the fire. They didn't say anything. They knew it was better not to. It was a moment of tears and of letting go past memories. 

Gabrielle turned her gaze to Xena. Was she thinking about Ares? Autolycus? Meg? She hoped sometimes that she could read her mind. She wished to penetrate the maze of her thoughts so that she could understand the feelings and discover the secrets that were locked deep within. She left talking to Xena for tomorrow. Virgil was desperate and needed comfort. And then they needed rest, tomorrow was going to be a long day. A day of mourning and cope…

The first sunrays were touching the earth slightly. The day was starting to take form wiping the sky from the remaining stars. It looked like the chariot of Apollo was crossing the sky carrying the sun. Except, Apollo was now worthless and the sun seemed pretty much to stay up on its own. 

Xena hadn't slept all night. It was confusing for her to think about it. Sometimes she wanted to vanish sometimes she wanted to go back in time, but most of all she wanted to cry. There was something inside that couldn't let her do it. Was it pride? Or was it because she didn't want to ruin her image of a perfect warrior. Was she falling inside the definition of a stereotype?She didn't know. But she knew that she was tired of being strong, of being the one to bear the burden of being a savior to the entire world. Meg, the interesting look-alike tramp had lived her life into giving herself to men for money. Then she met Xena and changed her ways. She fell in love with Joxer and married him. She found redemption in the eyes of the world, and Virgil was the fruit. 

Autolycus, the irresponsible, charming, thrilling king of thieves lived his life to the fullest without regretting anything. Why did he have to anyway? He knew what he wanted, even if taking it meant to do it in the wrong way. And then him: Ares. She had never thought living a life without knowing that Ares was somewhere alive and messing up things. How could she leave without him? It was unthinkable. It was as someone had cut an important part of your life and leaving you limb forever. It wasn't a scar. It was a missing piece. How could she live without knowing that he would be there watching her. Or, at least when he was mortal, think about her. It was comforting for her to think of being loved by someone who was born in hate. It made her feel redeemed. What would she do now? Would she be normal again? Where would she put those feelings deep inside? She knew that they would be there forever, buried into the mixture of other untold feelings, closed in the closet of insecurities. She found herself walking towards the sea. Why was she so drawn to it? Maybe because he lays somewhere there: in the bottom of the ocean. Maybe because she wanted to talk to him in a language, that only they could understand. It was the language of people who experienced this world to the fullest. It took millennia to one, and years to the other, but at least one of them was in peace. The other had to learn to live with the curse of letting go. She started singing a dirge song. It seemed to her that the wind carried it far, there at the grave where Joxer and Meg lay, in the morgue where the old Autolycus lay, and finally deep inside the ocean. Or at least, she thought so…

# TBC

   [1]: mailto:glediana@hotmail.com



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